Arak (Domain)
Arak was a land in the northeast of the Core that ceased to be during Grand Upheaval in 740 BC. The neighouring lands at that time were Darkon to the north, Tepest to the west, Nova Vaasa to the south, and the Nightmare Lands to the east. In geological terms, its northern frontier cut across the northern flank of Mount Nirka, its western frontier cut across the western foothills of the Mountains of Misery, its southern frontier was the southern limit of the Forgotten Hills, and its eastern frontier was eastern limit of the eastern foothills of the Mountains of Misery. Ark constituted the heart of the Mountains of Misery and at its centre stood awe-inspiring Mount Nyid, the highest peak in the Land of Mists. Mount Nyid and its sister Mount Nirka were inactive volacanos. The surface was inhabited by the Arakian and other humans immigranted from Darkon. A road ran from the Old Svalich Road in eastern Barovia across Arak and into Darkon. Below the surface dwelt true rulers of Arak, the Arak. They were shadow fey who lived in a kindom of cave and tunnels, hidden from the killing rays of the sun.
Life accross the surface of Arak was eradicated in 588 BC by a sandstorm without precedent that scoured the land clean in an event recorded as the Scourge of Arak. Dwarves familar with the region maintain that an entire mountain was carried off the deposited in the fomrly formed domain of Keening. The land was left barren and the road ruined. In the decades that followed Arak acquired the blackest of reputations. And it is universally held that anyone who dared spend the night in the land was carried off before dawn, presumablly by the shadow fey.
In 740 BC the Arak and their kingdom were relocated to the newly opened gash upon the face of the Land of Mists that is the Shadow Rift. Their relocation and the disappearance of the land of Arak as such, permitted the subsumption of the Mountains of Misery and the Forgotten Hills into Darkon, moving the Darkonese frontier south to that of Nova Vaasa.
Gradually it became known that those who dared spend the night in what was formerly Arak no longer systematically failed to return. And those who did return had been beset by things other than fey. Fey incursion into surrounding lands from what was formerly Arak naturally ceased, which did Tepest no good at all for the chief fracture out of the Shadow Rift proved to be in that land. The reputation of the Mountains of Misery for being fey haunted lessened with the passing of the years. The Forgotten Hills became a hideout for especially intrepid or desperate bandits, arguably making the northern frontier of Nova Vaasa a more dangerous place, especially along the East Timori Road and the Vaughn Dnar River from Tepestani frontier to the Trished River and even beyond. And Darkon could begin work on the Strigos Road which, when complete, will join the East Timori Road at Liara in Nova Vaasa to the Argentus Road and the Tempe Road just east of Tempe Falls. And the Forgotten Hills became a hideout for especially desperate or brave bandits, arguably making the northern frontier of Nova Vaasa a more dangerous place, especially along the East Timori Road and the Vaughn Dnar River between the Tepestani frontier and the Trished River.
Pre-740 (and perhaps post-740):
- desolate and windswept
- scrubs, not trees
- grasses and spike plants
- spiders, giant insects, ettencaps, hell hounds
Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue
|
|
|
|
Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp33-34 | |
|
Realm of Terror - poster map |
